GOALFIRE

Well I missed out on about 18 years of opportunity to pay NI premiums while I was here in the US, I can do catch up for 6 years back (more if I am lucky reading some old threads) and then pay year by year going forward. As I weigh up the pros and cons of doing this I can't seem to find what my wife would get if I died? She is a US citizen, zero NI contributions and more than likely never will (we have no plans to work in the UK). Not sure if becoming a UKC will have any affect as that is still a possibility many years from now.

So what will my wife get if I die before her?

At the moment I have 11 years of contributions and forecast is for ~50GBP a week pension.

calman014

The information about survivor's pensions should be there on the same site (gov.uk), I think it's a percentage.

"Pension after the death of a spouse"

spouse of scouse

Under the 'new' State pension rules (which you'll fall under), your wife's entitlement to a basic State pension is based on her own NI record. State pensions aren't inherited by the surviving spouse. There are some rules about a surviving spouse with an NI record being able to receive part of their partner's additional (not basic) State pension, but I'm not up on that, info here:
https://www.gov.uk/new-state-pension...-civil-partner

Your wife may be eligible for bereavement benefit if she qualifies, see here:
https://www.gov.uk/bereavement-support-payment

scot47

https://www.gov.uk/bereavement-support-payment

Widow's Pension as we used to understand is a thing of the past.

GOALFIRE

It's still not that clear to me - from what I can see my wife (regardless of her not having paid any NI) will get a lump sum and some monthly payments for 18 months or so if I were to perish? Not big money but still money owed.

durham_lad

I believe that is the case. As you say it is not very much.